Scottish Parliament

Written Answers

Tuesday 27 July 1999

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation it has had with representatives of the Scottish pig farming industry regarding the present difficulties facing the industry.

Ross Finnie: My Department maintains regular contact with representatives of the Scottish pig industry and has done so since serious financial difficulties first beset this sector.

Agriculture

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take steps to encourage supermarket chains to purchase pork, bacon and ham from pig producers in Scotland.

Ross Finnie: I will use whatever opportunities arise to impress upon both retailers and consumers the high quality of Scottish pigmeat products, as well as the very high standards applying to their production, with the aim of encouraging the consumption of high quality Scottish produce.

Agriculture

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to prevent the potato disease, Brown Rot, spreading within the Scottish potato crop.

Ross Finnie: Potato brown rot has never been found in the Scottish potato crop and a number of measures are already in place to prevent this. Scottish grown potatoes and material entering Scotland from both within and outwith the European Community are inspected for symptoms of brown rot. Additional measures have been taken by the Government in relation to potato imports from The Netherlands where brown rot outbreaks have occurred in recent years. Directive 98/57/EC of 20 July 1998, when implemented on 21 August 1999, will subsume on a Community-wide basis national measures with regard to intra-community trade.

  Periodic surveys are carried out to confirm Scotland’s freedom from brown rot and these will continue to ensure that the high health status of Scottish potatoes is safeguarded.

Health

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many full time equivalent (a) bank; (b) agency; and (c) contract nurses were employed, and at what cost, by each health board area in each of the last 10 years.

Susan Deacon: The information available for agency nursing staff is shown in the table. No cost data to match the staff numbers is available. Information for bank and contract nursing staff is not available centrally.

  The use of bank and agency nurses is currently subject to review in line with the Executive’s commitment to ensure that the NHS in Scotland promotes employment practices which support and value staff and promote patient care.

  


Agency nursing staff: average whole 
  time equivalent 1 by health board;
  Year ending 30 September 





Health Board 
  

1988 2


1989 2


1990 2


1991 2


1992 2


1993 2


1994 2


1995 2


1996 2


1997 2,r


1998 2




Total - All staff 3


195.5  
  

211.5  
  

266.1  
  

247.4  
  

279.2 
  

 301.1 
  

 195.3 
  

 382.6 
  

 459.3 
  

455.7 
  

 537.5 
  









































Argyll & Clyde 
  

 0.9 
  

 2.3 
  

 2.0 
  

 0.6 
  

 0.3 
  

 4.6 
  

 11.6 
  

 39.0 
  

 39.8 
  

 57.0 
  

 81.7 
  



Ayrshire & Arran 
  

 2.1 
  

 7.7 
  

 2.1 
  

 2.9 
  

 0.9 
  

 0.5 
  

 0.4 
  

 0.4 
  

 0.0 
  

 3.0 
  

 6.0 
  



Borders 
  

 14.1 
  

 4.2 
  

 0.3 
  

 0.0 
  

 0.0 
  

 0.1 
  

 0.3 
  

 0.0 
  

 3.0 
  

-  
  

 1.1 
  



Dumfries & Galloway 
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

 0.4 
  

 0.4 
  

 1.3 
  

 0.1 
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  



Fife 
  

-  
  

-  
  

 1.1 
  

 0.7 
  

 0.3 
  

-  
  

 3.7 
  

 0.2 
  

 1.8 
  

 6.5 
  

 15.5 
  



Forth Valley 
  

-  
  

 0.6 
  

 5.8 
  

 2.3 
  

 0.0 
  

 0.4 
  

 0.0 
  

 17.3 
  

 63.1 
  

 54.1 
  

 22.5 
  



Grampian 
  

 7.0 
  

 7.1 
  

 6.5 
  

 11.9 
  

 31.4 
  

 33.6 
  

 26.5 
  

 46.2 
  

 29.4 
  

 21.8 
  

 47.5 
  



Greater Glasgow 
  

 77.9 
  

 85.0 
  

153.4 
  

 117.1 
  

164.9 
  

 127.3 
  

 76.8 
  

 92.8 
  

 67.7 
  

110.9 
  

 133.7 
  



Highland 
  

-  
  

-  
  

 0.5 
  

 0.3 
  

 0.8 
  

 0.5 
  

 0.1 
  

 2.4 
  

 4.1 
  

 12.3 
  

 13.2 
  



Lanarkshire 
  

 0.1 
  

 0.0 
  

 0.1 
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

 0.2 
  

 0.3 
  

 0.3 
  

 10.1 
  



Lothian 
  

 92.1 
  

 104.2 
  

 91.4 
  

 109.0 
  

 80.2 
  

 132.8 
  

 75.8 
  

 184.0 
  

 249.0 
  

 187.8 
  

 203.8 
  



Orkney 
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

 0.2 
  

 0.2 
  



Shetland 
  

 1.3 
  

 0.4 
  

 2.7 
  

 2.3 
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

 0.0 
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  



Tayside 
  

-  
  

-  
  

 0.2 
  

 0.1 
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

 1.0 
  

 1.8 
  

 2.3 
  



Western Isles 
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

-  
  

 0.0 
  



Notes: 
  






1 To calculate the average, 1 W.T.E. 
  is taken as a contribution of 37.5 hours per week x 52 = 1950 
  hours per year. 
  



2 Data for 1997 and 1998 are based 
  on one six month period ending 30 September. Data for 1991 to 
  1996 are based on two six month periods ending 31 March and 
  30 September. Data for 1989 to 1990 are based on two three month 
  periods ending 31 March and 30 September. 
  



3 Rounding of individual figures 
  may produce slight differences between the sum of constituent 
  items and totals. 
  



r revised 
  

Source: ISD(M)18

Health

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what is the number and the percentage of the total number of (a) hospital consultants, (b) junior doctors working in hospitals and (c) GPs, who have resigned due to stress related illness in each health board area in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999 to date.

Susan Deacon: The NHS in Scotland does not collect data on the specific reasons for the retirement of doctors on the grounds of ill heath. Such information is considered a matter of confidentiality between the retiring doctor and his/her GP.

Historic Scotland

Ms Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the key performance targets it has set Historic Scotland for 1999-2000.

Donald Dewar: I have set Historic Scotland the following key performance targets for 1999-2000:-

  


Key Performance 
  Area


Target




Protecting Scotland’s 
  Built Heritage

 



Number of monuments 
  scheduled
  

385
  



Weighted number 
  of listed building resurvey units
  

182
  



No. of weeks in 
  which 80% of Scheduled Monument Consent cases resolved
  

9
  



Percentage of Listed 
  Building Consent cases resolved within 28 days
  

97%
  



No. of historic 
  building repair projects newly assisted by grant
  

90
  



Total value of 
  grant-assisted repairs
  

£25m
  



Programme of conservation 
  of properties in care
  

Meet Conservation 
  Programme+ 
  



Promoting and 
  Presenting the Built Heritage

 



HS market share 
  compared to other paid visitor attractions in Scotland
  

51%*
  



Percentage of satisfied 
  visitors (survey based)
  

96%
  



Average retail 
  spend per visitor
  

£1.65
  



Agency Management

 



Percentage efficiency 
  gains/savings on non-grant expenditure
  

1.5%
  



  + To be detailed in the Agency’s Corporate Plan

  * The Agency’s top ten properties will be measured against the National Trust for Scotland’s top 10 properties and the top 10 privately-owned historic attractions.

Housing

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many council houses have been sold under the right-to-buy legislation since 1979 in each district council area (up until 31 March 1996) and in each unitary local authority area (since 1 April 1996) in Scotland.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The information requested is set out in the table, which includes sales up to the end of September 1998. More recent information is not yet available. The figures given include right to buy, rent to mortgage and voluntary sales, all of which were made under the right to buy legislation. Sales of New Town dwellings are shown separately in the table.

  


Right to Buy Sales 
  of Local Authority and New Town Dwellings




RTB sales from





RTB sales from




1/4/79 to 31/3/96





1/4/96 to 30/9/98




Total


280,585 





Total


34,035 




Local Authority


248,899 





Local Authority


33,669 




Berwickshire 
  

942  
  




Aberdeen City 
  

1,718  
  



Ettrick & Lauderdale 
  

1,579  
  




Aberdeenshire 
  

886  
  



Roxburgh 
  

1,840  
  




Angus 
  

668  
  



Tweeddale 
  

547  
  




Argyll & Bute 
  

424  
  



Clackmannan 
  

2,690  
  




Clackmannanshire 
  

363  
  



Falkirk 
  

9,250  
  




Dumfries & Galloway 
  

1,048  
  



 Stirling 
  

4,113  
  




Dundee City 
  

834  
  



 Annandale & Eskdale 
  

1,978  
  




East Ayrshire 
  

1,301  
  



 Nithsdale 
  

3,010  
  




East Dunbartonshire 
  

342  
  



 Stewartry 
  

1,116  
  




East Lothian 
  

533  
  



 Wigtown 
  

1,729  
  




East Renfrewshire 
  

185  
  



 Dunfermline 
  

7,516  
  




City of Edinburgh 
  

1,740  
  



 Kirkcaldy 
  

8,510  
  




Falkirk 
  

1,146  
  



 North East Fife 
  

3,728  
  




Fife 
  

2,026  
  



 Aberdeen 
  

9,642  
  




City of Glasgow 
  

4,142  
  



 Banff & Buchan 
  

4,182  
  




Highland 
  

1,588  
  



 Gordon 
  

2,199  
  




Inverclyde 
  

1,040  
  



 Kincardine & 
  Deeside 
  

1,261  
  




Midlothian 
  

480  
  



 Moray 
  

4,303  
  




Moray 
  

476  
  



 Badenoch & Strathspey 
  

558  
  




North Ayrshire 
  

868  
  



 Caithness 
  

1,219  
  




North Lanarkshire 
  

3,314  
  



 Inverness 
  

2,277  
  




Orkney 
  

108  
  



 Lochaber 
  

1,139  
  




Perth & Kinross 
  

601  
  



 Nairn 
  

401  
  




Renfrewshire 
  

1,230  
  



 Ross & Cromarty 
  

1,594  
  




Scottish Borders 
  

536  
  



 Skye & Lochalsh 
  

289  
  




Shetland 
  

138  
  



 Sutherland 
  

519  
  




South Ayrshire 
  

734  
  



 East Lothian 
  

5,390  
  




South Lanarkshire 
  

2,851  
  



 Edinburgh 
  

17,945  
  




Stirling 
  

533  
  



 Midlothian 
  

4,449  
  




West Dunbartonshire 
  

532  
  



 West Lothian 
  

5,950  
  




West Lothian 
  

1,185  
  



 Argyll & Bute 
  

2,437  
  




Western Isles 
  

99  
  



 Bearsden & Milngavie 
  

684  
  












 Clydebank 
  

3,130  
  




New Towns


366 




 Clydesdale 
  

2,219  
  




Cumbernauld 
  

60  
  



 Cumbernauld & 
  Kilsyth 
  

1,337  
  




Irvine 
  

113  
  



 Cumnock & Doon 
  Valley 
  

2,347  
  




Livingston 
  

193  
  



 Cunninghame 
  

6,271  
  




 


 




 Dumbarton 
  

2,707  
  




 


 




 East Kilbride 
  

685  
  




 


 




 Eastwood 
  

738  
  




 


 




 Glasgow 
  

28,112  
  




 


 




 Hamilton 
  

6,602  
  




 


 




 Inverclyde 
  

3,665  
  




 


 




 Kilmarnock & 
  Loudoun 
  

4,066  
  




 


 




 Kyle & Carrick 
  

6,879  
  




 


 




 Monklands 
  

6,936  
  




 


 




 Motherwell 
  

8,037  
  




 


 




 Renfrew 
  

10,053  
  




 


 




 Strathkelvin 
  

3,475  
  




 


 




 Angus 
  

4,245  
  




 


 




 Dundee 
  

9,643  
  




 


 




 Perth & Kinross 
  

5,653  
  




 


 




 Orkney Islands 
  

574  
  




 


 




 Shetland Islands 
  

635  
  




 


 




 Western Isles 
  

779  
  




 


 




 


 





 


 




New Towns


31,686 





 


 




 Cumbernauld 
  

6,930  
  




 


 




 East Kilbride 
  

12,119  
  




 


 




 Glenrothes 
  

5,331  
  




 


 




 Irvine 
  

2,349  
  




 


 




 Livingston 
  

4,957

Housing

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money will be available for distribution in Scotland under the new domestic energy efficiency schemes (HEES and HEES plus) for the years 2000-2002, how many homes will qualify for grants under these schemes and what is the estimate of the number of homes that will receive grants during this period.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Home Energy Efficiency Scheme was replaced in Scotland on 1 July by the Warm Deal. The budget for the Warm Deal in the current year is £12 million and it is expected that about 24,000 homes will receive grants. I hope to make an announcement shortly about the resources available in 2000-01 and 2001-02, and the qualifying criteria.

Rural Forum

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that the work of Rural Forum Scotland is continued.

Ross Finnie: Steps are being taken to find other means to take forward work relating to the management of the EU Objective 5b Programme in Rural Stirling and Upland Tayside, and by the Scottish Churches Housing Agency in respect of the Rural Housing Service. I and my officials are also in discussions with various interest groups who are exploring whether there is a need for a new body which would meet the needs of rural communities.

Tourism

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to study the impact of the use of the internet as a means of promoting tourism in Scotland and, if so, what will be the nature of the study, and whether it will seek to involve those in the industry already engaged in the use of the internet.

Henry McLeish: The Scottish Tourist Board is undertaking research. The results will be used to inform the new Tourism Strategy on which the industry will be fully consulted.

Tourism

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of how the £700,000 additional funding for the Ossian project made available to the Area Tourist Boards in 1999 was spent.

Henry McLeish: The Scottish Tourist Board, which leads the Ossian project, was asked to allocate this funding between the ATBs. I will ask the Chairman to write to you with the information and I will arrange for a copy of his reply to be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Tourism

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there has been any independent assessment of the impact of the Ossian project and, if so, whether it will place the results of the assessment in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre

Henry McLeish: Project Ossian is not yet fully on stream and the impact will not be felt until next year. The Scottish Tourist Board believe that the introduction of Ossian will make the industry more competitive.

Tourism

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive to specify the marketing budgets in each of the area Tourist Boards in Scotland for each of the last three financial years and the estimated budgets for the next three financial years.

Henry McLeish: Area Tourist Boards are independent local partnership organisations. The information requested is not held centrally.

Tourism

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether steps have been taken by the Scottish Tourist Board to promote Scotland as a holiday destination in the Highland Games events which take place in Canada and the United States of America and whether the Scottish Tourist Board has advertised or intends to advertise in the Highlander magazine.

Henry McLeish: This is an operational matter for the Scottish Tourist Board. I will ask the Chairman to write to you and I will arrange for a copy of his reply to be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

Tourism

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will request that the Scottish Tourist Board introduce a marketing campaign to promote Scotland as an autumn holiday destination in order to boost the tourist industry in Scotland this year.

Henry McLeish: The STB in partnership with the industry has since 1995 undertaken a campaign focused on generating additional business in the October and November period. This is estimated to have generated an additional £5 million spend in 1998. Plans for a 1999 campaign are well advanced.

Tourism

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an estimate of the annual revenue from tourism in Scotland in (a) 1997, (b) 1998 and (c) 1999.

Henry McLeish: Tourism spend in Scotland in 1997 was estimated to be £2.6 billion, a record sum, and in 1998 to be £2.5 billion, both at today’s prices. The Scottish Tourist Board is forecasting modest growth for the industry in 1999.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

The Mace

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Mace gifted to the Parliament by Her Majesty The Queen has any constitutional significance and, if so, whether he will provide in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre a statement regarding its significance.

Sir David Steel: The Mace was presented by Her Majesty to The Scottish Parliament. It is a modern embodiment of an ancient symbol of power, legitimacy and the relationship between Parliament and the Crown, and is a reminder of the Parliament’s authority.

  The Mace is at present on view in the National Museum of Scotland. In future recesses it is intended to be on view in a secure glass case in the Chamber, when I will consider the suggestion of such a statement being mounted alongside.